Concrete Countertops Brea California

 The more projects I learn about completed by Surfacing Solutions of Temecula California the more I appreciate their talents with concrete. In recent months I have updated concrete countertop projects they’ve designed and built in Newport Beach, Upland, Murietta, Chino Hills, Temecula and now these concrete countertops in Brea California.

This one is an open air outdoor kitchen and living area around the owners swimming pool.  The area is approximately 1,500 square feet with bath, large grill area, flat screen TV and seating overlooking the pool.

The designer of the magnificent space was Carol Peltzer of Venture 1 Design.  Carol contacted            Shawn Halverson of Surfacing Solutions to help create the finishing function and design.

The Color was created using 4 different acid stains by manufacturer Westcoat. In other area such as the grill and bar area they used LM Scoffield “Nutty Brown” concrete stain. As in many Surfacing Solutions projects the seal coats were Concrete Solutions high gloss Arylic Urethane.

The results of the Brea Cailfornia Concrete Countertops, ”one of the coolest outdoor projects we’ve ever been involved with” according to Shawn Halverson.

It made me start to think….then I looked at my web stats for the past two weeks. I’ve been doing a review of the concrete countertop market. I noticed that the number of visitors jumped up and the amount of time on the site substantially increased. What was more significant was that I noticed most interest came from coastal areas.

So here are a few ideas for outdoor patios and building outdoor kitchens. This is from a project I did a few years ago that was designed by Bartels & Pagliaro Architects from Norwalk Connecticut. www.bartels-pagliaro.com.

Clearly concrete has become very popular for coastal living decor.

The pictures of these boxes don’t do them justice. About a year ago I went and knocked on the door of the house of the client. I had never seen them installed. I built and delivered them while the house was under construction. The sound was sensational. It was crystal clear. I never thought about it but concrete has no vibration so sound projects out without distortion. The concrete light and speaker boxes are excellent for exterior coastal living decor.

I might build them differently today. The boxes are heavy, about 200 lbs. There is a new concrete called Maximizer Concrete (www.maximizerconcrete.com) that is close to 70% lighter that I would use. (contact Andrew Pinkerton at Maximizer Concrete for more info 972-647-6764). Reinforcement that I would use is C-Grid which you can find at Chomaratna . C-Grid is a carbon fiber that can replaces rebar. It’s more expensive but will not corode and is lightweight. For info about C-Grid contact Gene Nichols at 864-260-3344.

The picture of the concrete countertop below we made 4 inches thick. We needed the appearance of thickness because the house was large and outdoor pool area was vast. Anything less that 4 inches thick would have looked out of scale. Using C-Grid carbon fiber reinforcement would have enabled the countertiop to be 2 inches thick with 4 inch edges. C-Grid carbon Fiber would have eliminated the risk of ghosting from rebar and cracking caused by corrosion like with rebar. C-Grid opens up the market for exterior uses of decorative concrete eliminating corrosion and cracking from rebar.

The outdoor kitchen with a concrete countertop will enhance your exterior coastal living decor.